(Butler, PA) The hospital-like interior of the Victor K. Phillips Nursing and Allied Health Building, with its simulated medical-surgery and ICU rooms, will prepare students to “feel comfortable for when they get into a real situation,” Janice Phillips Larrick said Wednesday after a groundbreaking for the centerpiece of the largest construction project in Butler County Community College’s 56-year history.
“And that comfort level,” Larrick said, “will pass onto their patients. The magic comes when the nurse walks in the room, and the patient says, ‘I’m going to get the best from him or her.”’
Larrick and her family, and others whose private contributions will help to fund the $9 million, state-of-the-art facility, were recognized at the ceremony held amid BC3’s $18 million, two-phase south campus construction project.
A nursing and allied health building on BC3’s main campus in Butler Township had been part of the college’s master plan for a decade, according to Brian Opitz, BC3’s executive director of operations.
"The magic comes when the nurse walks in the room, and the patient says, ‘I’m going to get the best from him or her.”’
“But there was still a missing piece,” BC3 President Dr. Nick Neupauer told an estimated 120 guests at the Victor K. Phillips Nursing and Allied Health Building groundbreaking.
“The missing piece was a key community member to pledge support and belief in BC3, in the project, and to get the ball rolling. That person was Janice Phillips Larrick and the Phillips family.”
“A world-class training facility”
The Janice Phillips Larrick Charitable Trust in July 2017 committed $1 million toward construction of what will become a 25,000-square-foot facility that will provide an immersive learning environment and house the college’s Shaffer School of Nursing and Allied Health.
“We are going to be able to provide a world-class training facility to the BC3 students of the Shaffer School of Nursing and Allied Health,” said Megan Coval, executive director of BC3 Education Foundation and external relations. The building “will be equipped with top-notch, world-class technology. Laboratories. State-of-the-art simulated experiences for our students. I can’t wait to see what will be here in just a few short years.”
The facility could open in 2023, Opitz said.
Construction as part of BC3’s $18 million south campus project began in June 2020 with a 10,000-square-foot operations building near Old Plank Road. The operations building houses the college’s maintenance, and shipping and receiving staff.
The college’s maintenance facility, built 28 years ago, and adjacent shipping and receiving facility, built a century ago, were razed in August.
The Victor K. Phillips Nursing and Allied Health Building will be built on the one-acre site where the college’s maintenance, and shipping and receiving facilities, once stood.
Site excavation and the installation of footers and other underground building supports will begin in early 2022, Opitz said.
Commitment to produce “high-quality graduate”
BC3 will finance the $18 million south campus construction project through a combination that includes state assistance and private giving, according to Jim Hrabosky, BC3’s vice president for administration and finance.
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania supports capital improvements at community colleges by often or typically providing 50 percent of the funds when the colleges, local sponsors and-or private fundraising also provide a 50 percent match of the project costs.
BC3 has issued $9 million in bonds.
The BC3 Education Foundation has raised $5.4 million to date in private contributions or pledges from 44 donors, according to Lynn Ismail, the foundation’s assistant director and financial manager.
“And donations,” Neupauer said, “are continuing to come in.”
The BC3 Education Foundation also received $1 million contributions or pledges toward construction of the building from former state Sen. Tim Shaffer in September 2017, from Concordia Lutheran Ministries in May 2020, and in April 2021 from a donor who requested to remain anonymous.
Grove City College in June 2019 committed $500,000 to the BC3 Education Foundation toward construction of what Dr. Patty Annear and her faculty members have come to call “the Victor K.”
“We are extremely appreciative to all of our supporters who saw the potential that this facility brings,” said Annear, dean of BC3’s Shaffer School of Nursing and Allied Health. “Fortunately, enough of you believed in us and trusted in us to get us here today. We appreciate your commitment and in return, you have our commitment to produce the high-quality graduate that is expected from BC3.”
“Busting out of their space”
BC3’s Shaffer School of Nursing and Allied Health includes associate degree programs in health care science, medical assistant, Nursing, R.N.; physical therapist assistant and in technical trades-massage therapy management option. The school also includes workplace certificate or certificate programs in massage therapy, medical assistant and in medical coding and billing specialist.
All programs within BC3’s Shaffer School of Nursing and Allied Health are offered on BC3’s main campus and some at its additional locations.
Programs in the college’s Shaffer School of Nursing and Allied Health on BC3’s main campus are currently housed in the college’s business and health professions building.
The college’s nursing program, Shaffer said before a Feb. 21, 2018, event announcing his $1 million contribution to BC3, needs “better space. They are busting out of their space. Registered nursing is one of BC3’s premier endeavors, and they should have a little more distinction.”
BC3’s main campus Nursing, R.N., program this fall enrolls 168 students, including nine from Grove City College, Annear said. More than 200 students are enrolled in a health care science program that debuted this year, according to Sharla Anke, BC3’s assistant dean of institutional research and planning
Enrollment in the school as of Oct. 18 was 485, Anke said. Enrollment in the school as of mid-Octobers from 2016 through 2020 ranged from 252 to 288, Anke said.
Need for more, better professionals
BC3 and Grove City College in June 2019 forged a partnership that allows Grove City students to enroll in BC3’s theoretical, clinical and lab courses as part of the Mercer County private institution of higher education’s new bachelor’s degree program in nursing.
“Nursing is a rewarding and fulfilling career that many students are interested in pursuing,” Paul J. McNulty, Grove City College president, said in a June 2019 announcement about the partnership between BC3 and Grove City.
“There is also a pressing need for more and better trained professionals in the field. This partnership with Butler County Community College allows us to meet the needs of students and society. We are blessed to have a neighbor like BC3 that allows us the opportunity to better serve our students, our community and the common good.”
Grove City College students will attend classes at Grove City in the first and fourth years of the program, and at both institutions of higher education in the second and third years. They will also receive an associate degree in Nursing, R.N., from BC3 upon completing BC3’s degree requirements.
BC3 in January will launch on its main campus a selective-enrollment practical nursing program as part of an up to $10 million partnership forged with Concordia Lutheran Ministries in May 2020. BC3’s will be the only practical nursing program in Butler County.
“There’s a shortage of health care people everywhere in all disciplines,” said Jessica Lasanich, a faculty member in BC3’s Shaffer School of Nursing and Allied Health and director of the college’s practical nursing program. “So we are here to advertise not only BC3, but what we can bring to the Butler County community.”
BC3 produces “highest-quality caregivers”
The college’s partnership with Concordia is intended to address a shortage in nursing by expanding enrollment in BC3’s Nursing, R.N., program and by creating the practical nursing program.
Concordia will benefit from the partnership, Keith Frndak, president and CEO of Concordia Lutheran Ministries said in June 2020, because the healthcare provider’s “mission and our stock in trade depends on us having the highest-quality caregivers, and that’s precisely what the BC3 nursing program produces.
“This partnership helps ensure we have some of the best nursing staff available in the region caring for our residents for decades to come.”
Concordia’s tuition assistance program allows BC3 nursing students to complete their program tuition-free and provides a secure position with the Cabot-based health care provider after graduation.
BC3’s 48-credit practical nursing certificate program is intended to be completed within 12 months. The college is reviewing applications for January admission, Annear said.
The BC3 Education Foundation also received contributions or pledges toward the construction of the Victor K. Nursing and Allied Health Building from the estate of Barbara P. Flinchbaugh, from the estate of Joan Chew, and from Paula S. Dorsch, Daniel and Kay Heineman, Kay and Ray Steffler, and Matt McGrath.
Flinchbaugh was a member of the Junior Women’s Club of Butler and the Associated Artists of Butler County. Chew was Butler County’s first female commissioner and served three separate terms as a BC3 trustee. Dorsch is a former school nurse and her husband, Ronald, was a faculty member at BC3.
Daniel C. Heineman Sr. created a scholarship in 1978 at BC3 as a memorial to his wife. Ray Steffler served 34 years as a BC3 trustee, longer than any other since members were first chosen in 1965-66. He passed away in 2019.
McGrath’s wife, Debra Lee Covert McGrath, was a 1976 graduate of BC3 and served as the college’s first director of the ACT 101 Equal Opportunity Program. McGrath’s mother, Rae McGrath, began a lengthy career at BC3 as an original member of the college’s faculty in 1966. She wrote the lyrics of the college’s alma mater, “Hail to Thee, Oh Butler College.” Rae McGrath passed away in 2008 and Debra McGrath, 2014.
Victor K. Phillips, the husband of Janice, was vice president of T.W. Phillips Gas and Oil Co. He passed away in 1991.
BC3’s fall open house at its main campus is scheduled for 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Oct. 26. Prospective students can learn about BC3’s associate degree, certificate and workplace certificate programs. A Nursing, R.N., information session will be held at 5:30 p.m.
